That was the Sharks’ best shot… so now what?

-Tomorrow is pack-up and meet-the-media day at Sharkville and they will all be relieved to know that today was the first in many that I woke up with a clear head and an appetite for anything other than tomato soup.

I’ll be out there tomorrow with Purdy, Pollak, Emmons and the rest. We’re all curious to see if Doug Wilson will talk and, if he does, how directly he’ll address the payroll and age issues.

Does he have the desire or inclination to make some major changes to re-tool for another four- or five-year big run? (If you can count what they just had as a “big” run–hey, the Sharks just had their glory days!)

—–the column/

What an odd moment in the history of the Sharks’ march to almost greatness:

This time they finally met reasonable playoff expectations (huzzah!), but they also reached the end of the line for their quixotic run as the NHL’s most promising team.

Because, given the time, place and the Sharks’ long buildup to this moment, this was the Sharks’ best shot at a Stanley Cup title.

Right here, and now gone.

Everything this franchise has done for the past five years — trading picks, adding giant contracts, switching coaches — pointed to cashing it all this spring.

Oops. Turns out the younger, faster, deeper Chicago Blackhawks had an even better shot at it.

So there’s nothing bitter about the Sharks’ four-game Western Conference finals sweep-o-rama experience. The Sharks achieved a lot this postseason, were neck-and-neck with the Blackhawks in every meeting except Game 2, and will not need to provide franchise-wide acts of contrition in the aftermath.

Joe Pavelski dominated the early playoff rounds. Patrick Marleau took over the last series. Joe Thornton, Evgeni Nabokov, Ryane Clowe, Devin Setoguchi and Dan Boyle all had their moments.

The Sharks did the best they could, which by itself signifies the end of an era for a franchise that had become famous for the opposite.

However, when it is universally acknowledged that you did your best and lost, you avoid the catcalls, but you’re also part of a broader reality.

If the Sharks couldn’t have been expected to do any better than this, how can anybody expect them to do any better in the future?

The result: They’re a second- or third-tier team, which is maybe what they really have been all along.

They’re the San Diego Chargers now, not the New Orleans Saints or New England Patriots.

It’s not just that the Blackhawks were clearly better and are so much younger than the Sharks. It’s that the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes are young, rising teams, too.

And it’s not that the Sharks have to blow up their talented roster after once again gaining the No. 1 seed in the West.

It’s that Marleau is an unrestricted free agent whose final-week surge could prime the market for a huge offer (from L.A.?) the Sharks might not be able to match.

It’s that Nabokov is an unrestricted free agent, with a value to the franchise that is difficult to fully quantify or evaluate.

It’s that, even if the Sharks could find a way to re-sign both, maybe the Sharks shouldn’t be committing more big future salaries to players in their early and mid-30s.

It’s that Pavelski, 25, and Devin Setoguchi, 23, are restricted free agents and that Pavelski, specifically, could be due a long-term deal at something close to $5 million a year.

It’s that Thornton and Marleau are 30, Boyle and Nabokov are 34, captain Rob Blake is 40 and might retire, and Dany Heatley is 29.

It’s all of that, and a couple dozen other stray things, that tell us that this era of Sharkdom came to a close in Chicago over the weekend.

This was the era of getting established as a Western power, landing Thornton in 2005, adding major pieces such as Boyle and Heatley, rising to the top of the season standings and getting several prime whacks at the Cup.

This era was always about adding, adding, hiring Todd McLellan to teach the Detroit way, adding more, adding salary, aiming for that Cup run, just waiting for that young talent to fully mature …

And that era is over.

This summer, the Sharks are more likely to lose core pieces than to add a headliner or two.

It wouldn’t surprise anyone if there is a return to mostly building from within, starting with a more prominent role for Logan Couture.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the Sharks can’t win a Stanley Cup in the next few years or so.

These things can be wildly unpredictable, as the Sharks know better than anybody.

But they have had their best shot, took their best shot, and now they move on to something that could be very, very different.

Now we can begin to get more site traffic and comments by talking about something a bit more interesting than another Sharks flounder.

cynic

The team was never built the right way – a bunch of soft, finesse players that couldn’t cut in the playoffs. Time to rebuild.

Wilson

Why would you say that this was the Sharks’ best chance? They’ll have some new players next year. McGinn and Couture and other youngsters. Maybe a new goalie. The Blackhawks and Redwings will have some new players next year. Each team will have some injuries at playoff time. Some goalie will catch fire. The puck will bounce differently. The Sharks were probably the second best team in the league this season. Pretty damn good year.

fumblin’ frank

Time to trade Monta, Anthony Randolph, and the #6 pick for a legit big man…err, wrong team, sorry….

AJ

Is there any way we could trade Kawakami to Atlanta for a bag of pucks?

Playball

Atlanta would never do it

Stan…

I think lower expectations and a few player movements takes “heat” off of management. They can still promise a playoff caliber team to encourage fans and trading away deadwood for new players is Billy Beane like in saying to fans -“You just wait a couple of year and we will REALLY be something”.

petreroskinano

meh

Kelly Kiso

Bring back George Kingston, Patty Falloon, and Link Gaetz!

Joe

I’m not totally understanding this notion that the Sharks are so old and this was it. Marleau & Thornton are only 31, Heatley is 29…Tim threw those ages out there in the column like they are close to 40 or something instead of just past 30. Now, I’m fairly certain Blake will retire and that’s probably not a terrible thing because they need to get quicker on the blue line and I’m guessing they choose Marleau over Nabokov and see what’s gone on in Boston (Rask/Thomas), Chicago (Niemi/Huet), Philadelphia (Leighton/Boucher/Emery), Detroit (Howard/Osgood)…all of these teams had good success with rookie/young/shaky/unproven (pick a word) goalies this year. Then you look at Buffalo, New Jersey & Phoenix who have the three Vezina finalists and they all lost in the first round. So I’m guessing they look at that and give Thomas Greiss a shot next year so they can spend the money they used on Nabokov this year on the rest of the roster. The Sharks were 7-3-1 when Greiss started this year so it’s not like they can’t win with him and he did have a good run in the AHL playoffs last year…why not? Maybe he can be next year’s Niemi or Leighton.

Oh and as for this being the Sharks best shot…it may be Chicago’s too. Have you seen their salary cap situation for next year? 14 players under contract with only $234,000 in cap space. RFA’s: Niemi, Hjalmarsson, Ladd, Eager & Hendry. And nobody is going to make their life easy by taking Cristobal Huet ($5.6M) or Brian Campbell ($7.1M) away. They were able to survive Huet & Campbell’s contracts this year because Keith, Toews & Kane weren’t making big dollars…that changes next year.

Last thing…Phoenix isn’t a good young team. They did what they did this year because they brought in a bunch of veterans. LA? Yeah, they are the team to worry about in the West.

Sharksfan3

I am tried of reading Kawakami columns, his stiring the pot as usual, he does not know much about the game of hockey (even he admitted that on KNBR) and his far too negative…after a while enough is enough!

sharkBITE408

@AJ, your comment about trading Kawakami to Atlanta for a bag of pucks made me spew my coffee onto my keyboard and screen. LMFAO, thanks for the good laugh.

Second or third tier? Really? They’ve been missing a defensive link for years now; that doesn’t make them second or third tier. Are we watching the same team?

And rebuild? The core is right. Thornton is a good playMAKER. When will people start to realize that Joe Thornton is to be looked at to create the goals, not necessarily score them. Yes, he absolutely needs to work on taking the shot–in fact, the importance of taking the shot and not passing it along needs to be stressed come training camp time–but by no means does that mean the players are not good and need to be shipped out. You fairweather fans need to take a look at what’s in front of you and not spout out these ridiculous accusations.

An end of an era? I’m pretty sure the big guys are all still young and/or in their prime. They’re not in cap doom where their hands are tied and there’s a distinct possibility that Marleau will re-sign.